Ushanti wasn't in the mood to talk after that. She didn't even know where she was going. She just needed to step away from Shay for the moment. It wasn't a topic she liked to talk about and it always left a sore taste in her mouth.
Before she knew, she was standing in front of a closed hatch. The cabin where the strange boy was resting.
She turned her head to both sides of the corridor. For some weird reason she didn't want to be spotted by anyone.
Once she confirmed that no one was present. She opened the door and slipped into the room. The door groaned quietly shut behind her. The room wasn't big by any stretch of the imagination. A square room that must have been ten by ten meters. The captain had called this the sick bay.
And judging by the three beds that were laid out, she couldn't think otherwise.
The boy was laying in one of them. His body covered in sheets. From where she was standing he looked blissfully asleep like any normal human boy. And yet at the same time something about him felt...different.
It was subtle but it was there.
She crept closer to him. The soft tap of her boots being the only sound in the quiet space. Standing over the bed she peered down at the boy. His face was slightly immature, his hair- black and now dry, no longer stuck to his temple, it even looked curly.
She leaned in closer. His skin looked pale before by now it had gained a dull rosy colour to it, which was a good sign.
Her eyes widened a little when she realized that she was too close. Before she could take a step back, the boy's eyes opened and his body shot to sit up...except she was in the way.
***
Liam gasped and shot up. But his forehead slammed into something hard. He winced and leaned back. Another hiss reached his ears. Liam paused. That didn't come from him.
Dismissing the ache, his gaze drifted to the side. A foreign girl staggered backwards a little while holding onto her forehead.
Well at least he knew what he knocked into. Still the girls style of dressing to foreign to him. She wore what appeared to be brown furred clothes made from the hide of some animal. It wasn't rare to see similar clothing back home but these ones just looked more... natural if he had to describe it.
That alone suggested that she may have been from a local tribe somewhere.
She looked human at least which was good news.
The girl finally noticed his gaze and her brown eyes stopped on him. For a moment it looked like she didn't know what to do or say...only for a moment.
"What are you staring at mainlander?" she scowled.
Liam raised an eyebrow. Well perhaps it was rude for me to just stare.
"I'm sorry. I meant no disrespect I was just wondering who you were" Liam replied. The calm in his voice surprising even himself.
She looked at him and then she sat on the bed a few feet across. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Well, I could say the same about you?"
Liam couldn't help but smile a little. "I'm...well, I was...somewhere and now I'm here"
"What the hell kind of answer is that?" the girl looked appalled.
Liam couldn't help but laugh. It felt good to do so. After everything he had been through the world wouldn't hold it against him for having a little bit of fun right?
"What are you laughing at?" she demanded to which Liam's laughter slowly died down.
He sighed. "It's nothing really. Just that for a first time in a while I finally feel like I can relax... just a little bit"
He pushed the covers off him.
"W-wait! You don't have any clothes on!" the girl covered her eyes.
'Oh right' Liam finally remembered his precarious state throughout Aragon's prison. Liam looked down a sad smile on his face. Still he was surpirsed to see the large pair of shorts up his waist as well as the t-shirt that was twice his size.
He shifted his attention to the girl before saying: "Stop being so dramatic"
Hearing that, the girl peeked at him between her fingers and let out a relieved sigh. Soon though she frowned at him
"What's with that stupid smile?" she scowled.
Liam shrugged.
"Anyway who are you?" Liam asked.
"You didn't answer me so why should I?"
Liam opened his mouth but then closed it again. Finally, he sighed.
Liam was being cautious for no reason. Yes, he felt that he should keep most of what happened in Aragon's prison a secret but he couldn't very well outright lie about it now could he?
"I'm Liam" he finally said.
"So where are you from Liam?" she asked.
"Shouldn't it be your turn to answer now?" Liam asked.
The girl's lips tightened. She looked annoyed but she answered either way.
"My name is Ushanti, princess of the Ushari tribe" she puffed out her chest as she said that. She clearly took pride in that.
"Princess of the Ushari? You are from the Island Nation of Quescue?" Liam couldn't help but gasp.
The princess let out a comical laugh. "Yes I am"
"Wow...I didn't expect that." Liam narrowed his eyes and looked at the rest of the room. "Where are we by the way?"
It seemed as though he was in a room of some kind. There were two other beds with him as well.
"What do you remember before you passed out?" Ushanti asked.
Liam pondered for a bit his words coming out before he could stop them.
"I remember falling in water, the cold and the winds. The rain falling all around and a beat of thunder. I remember almost drowning but then the storm suddenly ended and then..." his voice trailed off.
"Yep" Ushanti nodded. "You are on a ship"
She stood and offered him her hand. "Come on"
Liam looked at her hand and then at her and took it. Ushanti smiled and for a moment Liam couldn't help but have a bad premonition.
He was proven right the next second when the Ushari princess pulled him to his feet.
"W-wait!"